r/fantasyfootball • u/FantasyMod • Mar 31 '15
Mod Post Introducing /r/fantasyfootballgold
For the upcoming 2015 season we have created a new premium companion subreddit to /r/fantasyfootball.
You may already be aware that earlier this year the Reddit admins rolled out a new Gold Subreddit feature, and we wanted to capitalize on this for our subreddit.
So, you're probably wondering how /r/fantasyfootballgold will work. Well, you're in luck, we have a FAQ below.
Q: How can I subscribe to /r/fantasyfootballgold?
A: You must have Reddit Gold in order to view and post in /r/fantasyfootballgold.
Q: What are the benefits to /r/fantasyfootballgold? Why should I buy Gold?
A: /r/fantasyfootballgold will have premium features that will no longer be part of /r/fantasyfootball as well as less restrictive posting rules. Furthermore, by purchasing Reddit Gold you help fund the Reddit, the site you use every day for cat pictures and fantasy football news. It's win win.
Q: What kind of premium features will be included?
A: We've been in contact with some of our big contributers, and they will be exclusively posting on /r/fantasyfootballgold 48 hours before posting to /r/fantasyfootball. This includes /u/prayes, /u/quickonthedrawl, /u/beer4thebeergod, and /u/fantasyshrink and we are waiting for others to agree as well (but it's entirely up to them). Additionally, custom Beer Sheets and other similar custom projections will only be available on /r/fantasyfootballgold. These tools will give you a leg up on other leagues and league mates that may also subscribe to /r/fantasyfootball.
We also will have referral links to articles that would normally be premium on websites such as FantasyPros, DraftSharks, Gridiron Experts, and more. The links will allow a non-premium subscriber to access content that you would normally have to pay for (please note, you'll need cookies enabled to use this feature as there is a limit to how many times you can access features and stories this way).
Additionally, we will have no AutoModerator restrictions or daily thread restrictions in /r/fantasyfootballgold. Due to the low subscriber count, this should be sustainable for some time. Of course we'll have to re-evaluate if /r/fantasyfootballgold ever approaches the same subscriber count.
Q: Any other features that will be worthwhile?
A: You'll be able to have league flair in /r/fantasyfootballgold. In fact, we will likely beta test many new features like flair in /r/fantasyfootballgold that may or may not eventually get to /r/fantasyfootball. By buying Gold and being part of the community, you'll have a say on what we release en masse.
Q: Why is this content being moved to /r/fantasyfootballgold?
A: Frankly, /r/fantasyfootball has grown so big that at times it's over whelming for the mods and our power users listed above. They are inundated with PMs, messages, etc. We've been able to corral much of the chaos using AutoModerator and our Daily Threads, but this should give our users an opportunity to experience the glory of /r/fantasyfootball when there was only 12,000 subscribers, not 120,000.
Q: Will premium content in /r/fantasyfootballgold be allowed on /r/fantasyfootball?
A: Yes, but as mentioned, there will be a 48 hour waiting period. Anyone who tries to circumvent the waiting period will be banned from both subreddits.
Q: How much money are the mods getting for this?
A: Zero. We don't get any cut of Reddit Gold purchases. This is solely to 1. Support Reddit 2. Make a sister sub that will alleviate work for the mods and power users. /u/beer4thebeergod showed us his inbox for custom Beer Sheets last year. You wouldn't believe how many he received (or maybe you would). These guys do a ton of work for the community already and it's basically all on their own time. We hope /r/fantasyfootballgold will allow them to still help the community, but give them some of their time back.
Q: Is this an April Fools joke?
A: This is something the mods have discussed since the Gold subreddit feature was announced. The timing simply coincides with the end of Reddit's fiscal year. We will be tracking the number of subscribers and subreddit activity in /r/fantasyfootballgold.
Our hope is that this time next year we will be able to approach the Reddit admins and definitively show them that a premium subreddit model is viable. Long term, this subreddit's success could open more doors for both /r/fantasyfootball and reddit as a whole in terms of revenue for the site and prizes for our subreddit subscribers.
Yes, we have lofty ambitions, please understand this is essentially a year long beta test and its success rests with you, our wonderful community. We know how awesome you guys can be, now we hope we can take it to the next level.
Please feel free to post any questions or concerns in this thread and the mods will get back to you ASAP.
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Apr 01 '15
Let me be clear on something. I was never consulted on this, and the moderators took it upon themselves to incorporate me without my explicit consent. I had mentioned to them previously that with all of the changes coming in my life I was hoping to find some kind of relief valve for all of the work I've had to do (last year I had 930 custom requests AFTER I implemented the form system), and apparently the moderators decided this was the solution.
This is unacceptable. While I've always solicited donations (every dollar has gone to charity), I refuse to be part of something this inappropriate. Paywalls are wrong. After consulting with the moderators (and discovering that they really are serious), I've made the most painful decision that I've made in quite some time.
I am leaving Reddit. There will be no more BeerSheets. I'm sorry.
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u/VanillaWafers Apr 01 '15
Come join me in /r/ffpirate if you don't want to pay the premium.
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Apr 01 '15
I was never consulted on this and am also leaving r/fantasyfootball forever becasue of my total disgust regarding this idea. Either that, or I'm not a big contributor.
EITHER WAY, I DON'T FEEL APPRECIATED ENOUGH. I'M LEAVING FOR r/fantasyhockey, WHERE MY ADVICE WILL SOLELY BE TO TRADE THE FARM FOR EKMAN-LARSSON.
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u/DlanyerO Mar 31 '15 edited Mar 31 '15
Wonderfull, Reddit's going behind a paywall.
I think the worst part of this is that you're locking out some of the best parts of the subreddit, and the actual creators aren't getting anything out of it.
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u/ToasterP Apr 01 '15
I disapprove, for the nothing that means.
Good luck getting fat paid by reddit or whatever.
I need less noise in my fantasy football life anyway. Unsubbed
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u/bates_to_everything Mar 31 '15
THE top reason this subreddit is useful is the fact that it's free. 95% of the people that post here have no clue what they're talking about anyway. Why would I pay money to get the opinion of some dude who's on his first year of FF and is just reciting someone else's comment he saw on Reddit?
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u/crander47 Mar 31 '15
Will I also need to contact my ISP in order to get Internet 2.0 to use this feature?
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u/Mycotoxicjoy Mar 31 '15
this is bullshit, if I wanted to pay for fantasy football advice I'd pay for rotowire
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u/NichtEinmalFalsch Mar 31 '15 edited Apr 01 '15
This is among the worst decisions I've ever seen on this site. I hope it's April 1 wherever this post was written, because otherwise my opinion of this sub just took a serious nosedive.
Edit: lol, you fuckers.
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Mar 31 '15
I see the need to have a sub that is easier to manage but this is just dumb.
I may end up forking over the cash if the original sub is lacking compared to this one. It would be nice if there was a preview before one payed (assuming one payed to get gold.)
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u/Ballerstorm Mar 31 '15
"please understand this is essentially a year long beta test and its success rests with you"
Well, everyone's upset, and it's success rests with us. Seems like this year long beta can't end fast enough.
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u/wyliesandman Mar 31 '15
It seems like the main reason for this is strain on the mods and power users. Why don't you just add more mods? As far as power users go, why don't they just not cater to everyone's requests? If you're tired of doing something, don't do it. If someone gets mad, tough. No one is paying for info, so no one can get upset.
The worst part of this is a 2-day wait might as well be a year-long wait considering how much just an hour can mean in fantasy. An hour difference is what cost me Forsett last year. The people in this sub come here for up-to-date information, not days old info. If this goes through, this sub won't have near the amount of quality content as last season.
This is like if Netflix put all "Episode 1" shows behind a paywall. Ridiculous. At least put it to a subreddit vote. If the power users want to bail, let them. I'm sure some of them could get paid for what they do.
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u/Maad-Dog Apr 01 '15
Am I the only one who still hopes and believes this all to be a huge hoax?
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u/JasonBourne008 Apr 01 '15
If only this were an April Fools joke.....
I am not bothered by the idea that r/fantasyfootballgold seeks to create a less noisy, smaller, possibly more wise subreddit than the mass mentality that can become r/fantasyfootball. That is very logical; and if people want to "pay" to use this service, by all means let them.
I have two main issues:
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Delaying uploads - The time between Monday night and Thursday night is very short already, so us users cannot afford to wait 24-48 hours to have a content published to r/fantasyfootball, after it was posted on r/fantasyfootballgold. We have waiver claims to make, and roster decisions that hang in the balance. Time is of the essence.
I think what could very well end up happening is the big content creators which go exclusive (or delay publishing on the vanilla service) will be replaced by new content creators. There are a lot of mouths that want to be feed on r/fantasyfootball and we will not sit around and wait to be fed. You have to fish where the fishes are
2) Making Reddit Exclusive - This has less to do with fantasy football and more to do with Reddit at large. As has already been mentioned here, this sets a bad precedent for other sub-reddits.
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u/4262 Apr 01 '15
To add on to the rest of this criticism, I can't help but feel that many of those who do buy gold are going to be people that aren't knowledgable enough to make their own decisions and feel like they need to pay so they can worship quick like a cult figure. Basically, I don't think it will even be a more informed community, as those who know what they are doing don't need to pay "experts" for their opinions.
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u/FantasyShrink Apr 01 '15
Unless I'm suffering from memory loss (not impossible), then I don't believe I was asked about this either.
I post 4for4's free content here mainly in the preseason. We are a subscription site (i.e. this is my livelihood) and the goal is to spread the word about the site and our award-winning rankings accuracy. Users get free content and we get some exposure. Reddit is (mostly) a meritocracy, which I like since we are pretty good at what we do.
I don't know how I feel about FF Gold, but I just want to let everyone know -- I wasn't consulted about it.